INSULAR PLANTS AND INSECTS. 273 



a species of white-flowered myrtle also abundant ; so 

 that, on the whole, flowers formed a rather conspi- 

 cuous feature in the aspect of the vegetation of Juan 

 Fernandez. 



But this fact — which at first sight seems entirely at 

 variance with the view we are upholding of the im- 

 portant relation between the distribution of insects 

 and plants — is well explained by the existence of two 

 species of humming-birds in Juan Fernandez, which, in 

 their visits to these large and showy flowers, fertilize 

 them as effectually as bees, moths, or butterflies. Mr. 

 Moseley informs me that these humming-birds are 

 extraordinarily abundant, every tree or bush having 

 one or two darting about it." He also observed that 



nearly all the specimens killed had the feathers round 

 the base of the bill and front of the head clogged and 

 coloured yellow with pollen.'' Here, then, we have the 

 clue to the perpetuation of large and showy flowers in 

 Juan Fernandez ; while the total absence of humming- 

 birds in the Galapagos may explain why no such large- 

 flowered plants have been able to establish themselves 

 in those equatorial islands. 



This leads to the observation that many other groups 

 of birds also, no doubt, aid in the fertilization of 

 flowers. I have often observed the beaks and faces of 

 the brush -tongued lories of the Moluccas covered with 

 pollen ; and Mr. Moseley noted the same fact in a species of 

 Artamus, or swallow-shrike, shot at Cape York, showing 

 that this genus also frequents flowers and aids in their fer- 

 tilization. In the Australian region we have the immense 

 group of the Meliphagidse, which all frequent flowers ; 

 and as these range over all the islands of the Pacific, 



T 



